Welschnofen (Nova Levante)

The Eggental village at the foot of the Rosengarten, at 1,182 metres: the gondola starts in the centre and Lake Carezza lies within its municipality.

A short history

Welschnofen, Nova Levante in Italian, sits at 1,182 metres in the Eggental (Val d'Ega), at the foot of the Rosengarten (Catinaccio). At the end of 2025 the municipality had 2,032 residents on 50.8 square kilometres, 35.9 of them forest. Its territory includes Lake Carezza and the hamlet of Carezza (Karersee), and above the hamlet Passo Costalunga (Karerpass), at 1,752 metres, where Trentino begins.

The name tells of an old language border. According to the municipality of Deutschnofen, documents from 1150 call the area Nova or Nove, newly cleared land. By the 13th century a mainly German-settled part in the west was officially told apart from a mainly Ladin-settled part in the east: Deutsch-Nove and Welsch-Nove, that is Deutschnofen and Welschnofen.

The church bell tower is red for a reason: according to the tourist board, the colour comes from a red stone quarried on the Latemar until the 1930s. The forest near the village, the Karerforst, grows tonewood, and South Tyrol's tourist board writes that violins are still made from it in Venice.

Tourism came early here. At the end of the 19th century the Grand Hotel was built at Carezza, at 1,630 metres, a pioneering project to which, according to the tourist board, the valley owes its infrastructure; among the lake's guests the board lists Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Sisi), Winston Churchill and Agatha Christie. Today Welschnofen is home to the Carezza lift consortium, and the gondola starts in the village centre.

How to fit Welschnofen (Nova Levante) into a three, five or seven day trip: The Dolomites in 3, 5 or 7 Days: How to Plan Your Trip.

What to see

• Lake Carezza, above the village: a protected natural monument with three paid car parks, the visitor centre and the pedestrian underpass. The shore is fenced off and swimming is forbidden.
• The Lake Carezza loop, the easy walk around the water.
• The Rosengarten (Catinaccio), whose foot you reach on the gondola from the village centre. According to the tourist board the group has 7 via ferratas.
• The Latemar, mirrored in the lake, with the Labyrinth trail among the boulders.
• The Talt, 1,756 metres, a wooded hill the tourist board calls the highest in Europe: you reach it on foot or by bike from the village.
• The slopes of Carezza: the King Laurin run reaches the village after 7.7 kilometres.

How to get to Welschnofen (Nova Levante)

By car, leave the A22 at the Bolzano Nord exit and take the SS 241 up the Eggental, which climbs to Welschnofen and then to Lake Carezza and Passo Costalunga. From Trentino you come up from the Val di Fassa over the Costalunga. By train, get off in Bolzano and continue on the regional buses that climb the valley. If you stay with a member of the Eggental tourist associations you receive the South Tyrol Guest Pass, valid for seven days on all public transport in South Tyrol.

When to go

In summer 2026 the Laurin I gondola in Welschnofen runs from 23 May to 1 November and the Paolina chairlift at Carezza from 30 May to 11 October: these are the months for trails and via ferratas on the Rosengarten. In winter the Carezza ski area opens on 4 December 2026 and closes on 29 March 2027, and according to the tourist board the cross-country trails of Welschnofen and Carezza are free. Lake Carezza can be visited all year, but in winter it often freezes and the path around it can be icy.